The energy consumption by commercial work-related sectors in constructs like buildings in Japan occupies substantially 20% of the final whole energy consumption. Hence, when a manager of a building, a user thereof continuously saves energy, the final energy consumption can be suppressed.
Moreover, the needs for a so-called peak-cut that decreases the energy consumption in a peak time slot increase in accordance with recent shortfall of electric power supply. For example, the upper limit of the power consumption is set for commercial-scale utility customers like buildings. Moreover, the needs for a peak shift having the peak of an energy consumption shifted in time using a thermal energy storage device increase.
Under such a background circumstance, it is expected that the installation of energy supplying devices utilizing regenerative energy, such as solar power and solar heat, is further accelerated in future. However, the output by energy supplying devices utilizing regenerative energy largely varies depending on a climate condition like weather. Hence, it is also expected that the installation of energy storage devices like a battery and a thermal energy storage device, that can compensate such variability is accelerated from now on.
As explained above, it is expected that energy supplying devices and energy storage devices installed in facilities like buildings become diversified from now on. Moreover, a planning scheme of an operation plan for efficiently operating those devices well linked with existing devices in the whole construct becomes necessary.
For example, there is a scheme of minimizing the energy consumption, the costs, and the CO2 producing level during a predetermined time period for an energy supplying facility with a thermal energy storage tank. There are also a scheme of performing peak-cut based on an air-conditioner load prediction, and a scheme of utilizing an ice thermal storage air-conditioner for a peak-cut. (Japan Patent No. 3763767, 3519321, and 3669755)